Mamose seen as having ‘exciting’ oil potential

By SHIRLEY MAULUDU THERE are areas in the Mamose region which have been identified as having the potential for oil reserves. Acting Secretary for the Department of Petroleum and Energy (DPE) Kepsey Puiye told The National: “Yes, our country is largely under-explored. “But I think three geological regions which hold some exciting potential but need more investigation in terms of more and quality exploration work are the Sepik/Ramu Basin (Morobe, Madang and Sepik).” Puiye also noted areas of Milne Bay and Northern as having potential as well. “Cape Vogel Basin (Milne Bay and Northern) and the New Ireland and Bougainville Basins (New Britain, New Ireland, Bougainville and Manus),” he said. “Apart from these regions, most parts of Highlands PNG also remain under-explored.” Meanwhile, Puiye had previously said DPE “at the moment is not well prepared” to cater for the country’s growing petroleum and energy industry. He said the department understands that the industry is developing with new resources being discovered and projects that were yet to be developed. “That is a good question: How is DPE positioning itself to cater for an industry that is expanding and growing? My simply answer is, DPE is not well positioned and not well prepared to cater for such expansion and growth under the current environment is operates,” Puiye said. “DPE needs to be converted into an authority as soon as possible so that fundamental elements such as discipline, capacity, competency and funding issues are well addressed and a culture of professionalism is cultivated.” Puiye said the department was working to have it changed to “authority” within the next six to 12 months.